May 15, 2013 11:38 AM

This is the first question I've posted so bear with me. I've been trying to run a faster pace for 5Ks, currently I am about a 10:10 min mile I am trying to get to under 10 and eventually 9. My problem is I feel like I am doing good, got a good pace going but at the end of my 5k I have dry heaves and feel like I am going to lose it. It only lasts until I am cooled down which is only a couple of minutes, but I am wondering what I am doing wrong. I run 3 5ks a week and one long run (4-6) miles always in the morning because I live in SWFL and I need to get outside before the humidity is unbearable. Is it hydration that I am missing because of the heat and humidity? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The dry heaving could be dehydration...or it could be overdoing it, it could be out-of-shape, it could be eating too much before your workout...who knows. The devil is in the details. The only thing I can think of with the limited information is to incorporate one interval or "speed" training to your week. Althought there are some runners who would argue that trying to run a pace slower than 8 minutes per mile, you don't need any interval or speedwork, just put in the miles. Well, your goal seems specific...

try to do a 3X1 mile once a week...running each mile at or close to your target time...you say your running at around 10:10 per mile? Try around 9:40 pace, about 30 seconds faster...and take about a 3-5 minute walk/jog between intervals...build from there.

I think alot of runners would agree that running too many "race pace" sessions is not a good idea, but not running any isn't a good idea either.

So I guess what I'm saying is put more variety into it. Instead of 3 5k sessions and one long run of 4-6...Do one interval session of a 3x1 mile or 6x.5 mile or something similiar at "target" pace, one 5k session (not race pace), one tempo run of 4 miles (perhaps 10 seconds faster than 10k pace, or about 30 seconds slower than 5k race pace), and one long run....put in a 5k practice race at the most once every two weeks, maybe once a month. Find what works for you.

I guess if you take anything from this, more variety...it's the spice of life.

My personal experience as well as with other runners is that the dry heaves come from over-exertion. And as MegaDan88 mentions there could be other factors involved such as hydration or nutrition.

But I'm thinking that the real clue is that you are able to recover very quickly, which is usually the case when one pushes oneself really hard for a short period of time. I'm betting that you are sprinting or at least running as hard as you can for the last bit of the course. The net result is that your body is sucking every ounce of energy it can find, not to mention oxygen, and if you are not in stellar shape, your body is going to punish you with side affects (like the dry heaves). The good news is that the human body does recover from situations like this really well - as you have discovered.

Regarding getting a little faster, I think that the core component is doing intervals once a week. A routine that I've used is to run easy (warm up) for 1/2 or 1mile, then run hard for 1/4 mile, recover for a 1/4mile, and repeat this 5-6 times or more. This seems to wake up the "go faster" muscles. Over time I've noticed my times getting better (but I'm also at an age where I'm simply not going to improve speed-wise much more). I'm told that I shouldn't do speed intervals more than once a week - I don't know why.

I've thought about doing intervals but I'm so stuck on my 5k (I love doing it). I'm not out if shape, I don't eat before my run and I don't drink to much either. I make sure the night before a run I eat correctly and I hydrate. I suspect my problem is over exertion, but I always push myself. My fastest mile to date is 9:30 that was the first mile. I will give the intervals a try maybe once a week at first and make the final part of my run a slower cool down pace.

You are so correct justamaniac as soon as my Nike plus says "you're almost at your goal tap now for a power song" I turn it on for the last .5 mile. I'm not out of shape, I don't eat before a run and I really don't drink much, but I do hydrate a lot the night before. Once a week intervals is more doable for me as I love my 5k days too much

MegaDan88 and justamaniac offered pretty good advice and you would be wise to adjust your training plan to something along those lines. What you're doing now is not really good training technique and carries too much chance of injury and even overtraining. (Imagine that, overtraining on 15 miles per week.) The dry heaves are a dead giveaway. That should not be happening on any regular training run. You can have just as much fun and avoid the dry heaves with a more targetted training plan. A little reading on training techniques might also be worthwhile. Here is one good source: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/tips